Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Can not get my mind to wrap around the idea that it is the end of November, Thanksgiving, the start of Advent! Where did this year go? I know, I know, so cliche, every year seems to go faster than the year before. But seriously, it does!

To help save you some of that valuable time, I've got a freebie Holiday Newsletter template to share with you. You can use it to send out an update to family and friends, or create a quick scrapbook page. I made up my letter to send to family and friends using the new kit by Paper Garden Projects called Christmas Dreams.

click on image to download

After I had spent all that time getting it set up to hold enough room for several photos and plenty of room for lots of text, I thought it would be a great gift to share with all you wonderful blog readers and friends! Just click on the above image to download. Or click HERE to download. Then all you have to do is slip your photos behind the .png image and add your text above the image using your photo editing software.

I created the She Art/Doll in my photo editing software (Photoshop CS6). The doll stamps are amazing. They are layered files so it is easy to clip papers to the body, dress, hair, etc. I also used several stamps from the different collections like you would rubons in "real" paper designing.

Once I had the girl the way I wanted her, I saved her as a .png file. I simply dragged that file into my Silhouette Software and resized her to fit my card layout. I also dragged papers from the Femme kits into the shapes I had laid out in the Silhouette Software for the card base and elements. Same with the sentiment, I just dragged that over, placed it and resized it.

I traced the doll to cut around her, then sent everything to my print and cut! Love that feature on my Silhouette!! Since I had everything cut as individual parts of the card, I could apply inks to edges to give it some definition. I also used pens, India inks and Caran d"ache Neocolor II wax crayons to give the doll some character.

These can be used as cards for the Thanksgiving holiday, or.... for a thank you note whenever one might be needed! I printed the focal stamp with sentiment sized for 4.25'x5.5" cards. I also printed out a sheet of the patterned paper. I then trimmed the paper and attached using different embellishments to make each card unique.

Friday, November 8, 2013

It's been a while, but I finally got to do some more She Art work!! I love doing this type of art. The mixed media is so very pleasing to all my sensory needs! It allows my creative process to flow, while I think through some deep thoughts and capture some! It's an art journaling process.

For this one, I got to also play a bit digitally. Arty Pants Digital Stamps has released some really awesome digital stamp goodies that help make Femme images a real breeze! Check them all out here.

I laid out my design in Photoshop, then printed the background. That got Mod Podged to a composition book. I then printed the girl, the word strips and the embellishments separately. I fussy cut the girl and pieces and Mod Podged each layered on the journal. I used paints, bubble wrap, punchanella, inks, pens etc to shade, color and highlight.

Some areas got built up with gesso and modeling paste. Glitter got sprinkled on various layers including the lace, and the girls hair. Unfortunately we did not get any sun today to help with the photographs, so you'll just have to trust me that the bling is really nice!

Some gems were added to the flowers on her dress and in her hair. I doodled around the word strips that are layered on the journal. Can you see how much fun this is?

I didn't need to add any rub-ons since the Extras by Arty Pants include some awesome stamps to make this super easy!

This beauty has already been delivered to a friend. I hope she enjoys exploring her dreams and releasing her true beauty!

April is Autism Awareness Month. Let's always raise awareness!

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